12 | Opinion Public goodwill for graft war has been squandered on suspicions of involvement in corruption was greeted with understandable acclaim by Kenyans. It is a well-documented fact that a rising tide of suspicious P transactions within top levels of the government has triggered alarm among Kenyans with the issue consistently ranking alongside security as a top concern in opinion polls. Moreover, the government’s own estimates indicate that the country loses about Sh300 billion annually to graft, mainly through tender rigging, demonstrating how seriously the challenge of corruption hobbles progress. That amount could have a transformational effect if applied to key sectors such as health, education, agriculture and infrastructure development. Two months on, it has emerged that only one minister and a few officials will face court out of the numerous investigation files opened. This is a profoundly disturbing development. The Director of Public Prosecutions and senior officials at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission owe the public far better explanations than they have offered so far. Graft has been a key problem in Kenya for decades. Repeated studies have shown that the key systemic problem at hand is the lack of an unbroken chain across the various departments charged with tackling grand corruption. Detectives and investigating officers, the office of the DPP and the Judiciary have all at various times been named as stumbling blocks in the process of seeking justice. Amid the intrigues that attend the attempted prosecution of the rich and powerful, claims that the process has been hijacked for rent seeking and extortion have not been unusual as has been the case given statements by MPs in the last fortnight. There is no independent evidence of these claims nor are they the main issue. At the heart of this crisis is the fact that public goodwill and support for the war on corruption has been squandered. The enthusiasm which greeted the President’s pronouncement has given way to significant disappointment. Kenya cannot progress if it does not decisively halt the train of corruption. Recent events offer no encouragement on that front. a tangible impact on the way wananchi interact with the justice system. It is, therefore, highly commendable that the CJ has CJ’s decisions are progressive I moved to implement two key changes which should considerably improve the lives of those who have to go to the courts for various reasons. One of the most striking developments is the order concerning traffic cases. The police often top the table of the most corrupt institutions in the country primarily because of the conduct of members of the traffic department. Wielding the threat of arbitrary detention of suspected offenders, the police are able to extort millions of shillings every week. Under the new guidelines, suspected offenders will be given a notification to attend court at a convenient date within seven days of issuing of court summons. All payments of fines will be processed in open court to beat the notorious traffic police and court corridor cartels. The second directive regards the granting of bail for offenders not charged with serious offences such as murder, robbery or terrorism-related activities. Magistrates and the police are required to be flexible and not to hold suspects in custody for a period exceeding 14 days unless in exceptional circumstances. These are both progressive and timely decisions that should boost the administration of justice and end the colonial and adversarial relationship wananchi have with the courts. QUOTED “The eye crosses the river before the body.” – Ndebele proverb THIS AND THAT | Murithi Mutiga Old Europe’s hypocrisy means little will change at Fifa even in post-Blatter world T f there is one criticism that could be levelled against Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, it is that the reforms he has initiated in the Judiciary have so far not had Control of Fifa: But, far from a campaign against corruption, what’s happening at Fifa is a EuroAtlantic campaign to seize control of the world’s most popular sport he Japanese have a saying: If you believe everything you read, you better not read. There are few better ways to sum up the reams of propaganda churned out by Western media about the scandals at world football governing body Fifa. Here are a few quotes that illustrate why I will never join the anti-Sepp Blatter crowd. “When I got to South Africa the whole room was full of blackies and it’s dark when they sit down all together. What’s more it’s no fun when they’re angry. I thought, ‘if this lot get in a bad mood it won’t be so funny’.” – Lennart Johansson, Europe’s candidate for the Fifa presidency in 1998, speaking to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. One of the most puzzling – and condescending – notions in this saga is the expectation in Old Europe that people should vote irrationally and against their own interests. This is not about race. Both Sepp Blatter and Johansson are of the same stock. But Blatter’s campaign platform in 1998 was that Fifa should promote football around the world. His rival ran on an unabashedly European platform and, as the quote above shows, he also had interesting attitudes towards Africans. He predictably lost. Why should anyone in Asia or Africa have any apologies to make for opting for Blatter? “It’s not colonialism at all. But there is no doubt that there are a set of values which you find in Western Europe, and in America, and in Australia, that don’t apply everywhere.” Such as? “Well, my experience in Africa is that when people go into politics in Africa, it’s incumbent upon you as part of that to look after your family. That’s just cultural, it’s a cultural difference.” – English FA chairman Greg Dyke. Ah, yes, corruption is an African disease and Europe is as pure as the driven snow. This suggestion, so transparently nonsensical that one hardly sees the need to rebut it, has been reinforced by the wallto-wall coverage alleging South Africa bought the 2010 World Cup hosting rights. Well, this very same Greg Dyke was forced by the Fifa ethics committee in April to return a Sh2.3 million watch he received from the Brazilian FA against Fifa rules. The notion that only World Cups outside Europe and America are awarded without merit is hollow. Germany’s 2006 selection was extremely controversial. This is how Blatter, who favoured South Africa, described it in 2012. “World Cups being bought … that reminds me of the World Cup vote in 2006, where somebody left the room at the last minute. And so suddenly instead of 10-10, the vote stood at 10-9 in Germany’s favour. I’m happy that I did not have to cast the decisive extra ballot [as Fifa president]. But, well, suddenly someone stood up and left. Perhaps in that case I was also too wellmeaning and too naïve.” It has also emerged that Australia offered about $400,000 to a Fifa official to back their failed 2022 World Cup bid. All this prompted British journalist Steve Bloomfield, one of the better voices on this subject and author of Africa United: How Football Explains Africa, to offer this retort to Dyke. “About these values found in America or Australia, that Africa doesn’t possess. Is Chuck Blazer (detained American official) African? Was the (Australia 2022) bid run by Africans?” Sadly, too many on the continent have been all too happy to jump on the bandwagon painting the South African World Cup as the most corrupt thing man has known. “(What) many in Europe seem unwilling to accept is that Blatter was voted in ... not because those who backed him are all corrupt, ill-informed, or motivated by antiEuropean bile (although some may be). But because many of Blatter’s supporters saw the incumbent as the lesser of two evils, a flawed but (eager to please) outreach candidate. - Barney Ronay, the Guardian. That sums it up. We all hate corruption, and it should be punished. The Nation’s lawyers have heard from a few FKF officials after I attacked them for running down the game. But, far from a campaign against ...too many on the continent have been all too happy to jump on the bandwagon painting the SA World Cup as the most corrupt thing...” corruption, what’s happening at Fifa is a Euro-Atlantic campaign to seize control of the world’s most popular sport. The effort will fail because, again and again, nations outside Europe will reject the imposition of a Eurocentric candidate. mutiganews@gmail.com resident Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement in his State of the Nation address that he would suspend five ministers and a host of senior public officials SUNDAY NATION June 7, 2015